Croker pain provides Munster with a new target

No ifs. No buts. No pointing too accusatory a finger at Nigel Owens, even if he didn't judge the breakdown as well as he should have.

Quite simply, in no uncertain terms, the better team won before the most colourful crowd that the magnificent Croke Park has ever hosted.

Alas, the curtain has fallen on Munsterâ00s reign as European champions and it will be Leinster flying the flag for Ireland in the Edinburgh final on May 23rd.

Comparisons between the 2006 and 2009 semi-finals were impossible to avoid as Brian Oâ00Driscoll touched down under the Hill 16 posts after intercepting a Ronan Oâ00Gara pass to end this Heineken Cup tie as a contest.

Trevor Halstead scored the final try of the â0006 semi-final in similar circumstances, as Munster raced away to a victory that they thoroughly deserved, even if the margin of victory that day slightly flattered them.

Leinsterâ00s 19-point win before a world record attendance for a club rugby fixture was thoroughly merited.

How ironic, that in the week in which Munster seized the Magners League from Leinsterâ00s grasp that Leinster in turn ended Munsterâ00s reign as Heineken Cup kingpins.

From the off, Munster struggled to find rhythm. Felipe Contepomi, as his wont in this head to head, kicked a penalty he never really believed he could score from after five minutes.

Six minutes later, Keith Earls danced through the Leinster defensive line after a sumptuous offload from Lifeimi Mafi, Munsterâ00s best player over the course of the 80 minutes.

Yards from the line, the centre was bulldozed to the deck by the superb Rocky Elsom, whom Leinster will move heaven and earth to keep during the close season.

Even when Cian Healy was binned for bodychecking Ian Dowling, Munster failed to make their numerical advantage count, although Ronan Oâ00Gara brought the sides level in reply to Contepomiâ00s drop goal.

As the game wore on, you waited for Munster to put their traditional stamp on proceedings, but when they did retain the ball, they were met by a wall of blue.

As they had against Harlequins, Leinster defended as if their lives depended on every single hit.

And despite disrupting the Leinster lineout, Munster didnâ00t make their successes count the way their fans have become accustomed to.

On the half-hour, Gordon Dâ00Arcy bounded his way over the whitewash after fine work by full-back Isa Nacewa.

Despite neither enjoying the sort of control nor applying the pressure theyâ00re used to, Munster stubbornly remained in contention, as Oâ00Garaâ00s 36th minute penalty reduced the margin to just five points.

You felt that Munster had to begin brightly when the action resumed, but it just never came together for Tony McGahanâ00s men.

Four minutes in, Luke Fitzgerald touched down for Leinsterâ00s second try, which Jonathan Sexton converted. There was now daylight between the sides and Munster had to get moving â00 and fast.

Ten minutes of exerted Munster pressure followed, as they laid siege inside the Leinster 22, but Michael Cheikaâ00s team refused to buckle.

Just past the half-hour, the same time they scored in the first half, Leinster ended the game as a contest when man of the match Brian Oâ00Driscoll intercepted Ronan Oâ00Garaâ00s pass to surge clear for their third try.

To Munsterâ00s credit, they didnâ00t give up. Neither did Leinster, who retained their intensity in the contact zone to shut Munster out for the full 40 minutes.

Defeat is always a shock when one is so accustomed to victory in the manner that Munster have achieved in recent seasons. But there is no disgrace in losing to a team that performs at its absolute optimum the way Leinster did.

Munsterâ00s greatest regret is that they did not produce the rugby we know they are capable of. But this defeat is now a chip on their shoulder, a reversal that will burn them long and deep into the summer.

Their top priority for next season was always going to be Europe. This defeat will surely mean a redoubling of efforts in an attempt to reclaim what has become the provinceâ00s Holy Grail.